Hospital cart



Oct. 6, 1959 L. M. FOLLETT ETAL HOSPITAL CART Filed March 13, 1958 JAMES R. NASH LESTA M. FOLLETT INVENTORS United States Patent HOSPITAL CART Lesta M. Follett and James R. Nash, Rosehurg, Oreg. Application March 13, 1958, Serial No. 721,174 1 Claim. (Cl. 23243.1)

This invention relates to hospital carts and has for one of its principal objects the provision of an improved means of temporarily receiving and storing soiled linen and the like from the bedside of patients and of thereafter disposing of the same without lifting the container either in receiving the soiled linen or in disposing of it.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a hospital cart adapted to receive the soiled linen through the top end thereof and to discharge the soiled linen through a controlled opening at the front bottom end of the cart.

A further object is to provide a sanitary hospital car-t of the character described from which no odor can escape during transportation from the point of collection of soiled linen to that of discharge.

A still further object is to provide a soiled linen receptacle with means for conveniently and positively opening and closing the top receiving end and the bottom discharge end thereof and for supporting the receptacle for easy transportation and maneuverability.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a hospital cart made in accordance with our invention with a fragment of one of its side walls broken away, and with closures for the top and bottom receiving and discharge openings respectively shown closed in full lines and open in broken lines. 1

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a rear view of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 with the top closure open and with fragments broken away for clearness of illustration.

Figure 5 is a sectional detail view on an enlarged scale taken approximately along the line 5--5 of Figure 1.

With continuing reference to the drawing, wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts, a receptacle indicated generally at 1 comprises a bottom wall 2, front wall 3, rear wall 4, side walls 5 and 6, and top closure lid 7 hinged as at 8 to the side wall 6. The interior of the receptacle is provided with an inclined partition or false bottom 9 arranged to direct the contents toward a discharge opening 10 in the front wall 3 defined by top, bottom and side edges, and provided with a closure 11 hingedly attached to the front wall at the top edge of the opening 3 by an outwardly biased spring hinge 12 and thereby normally urged to an open position as shown in broken lines in Figure 1. A latch 13 is pivotally attached as at 14 to the bottom wall 2 at the center of the opening 10 and is connected as at 15 to one end of an actuating rod 16 whose opposite end is connected at 17 to the top end of a lever 18. The bottom end of the lever is pivotally attached at 19 to a bracket 20 secured to and depending from the bottom wall 2.

The lever is provided with a foot pedal 21 which when depressed into the broken line position shown will pull the latch 13 out of engagement with the bottom edge of the closure 11 to allow the same to swing into an open position and thereby discharge the contents of the receptacle as they gravitate on the partition 9. To relock the closure 11 in a closed position it is merely necessary to re-engage the latch 13 with the bottom edge of the closure.

For actuating the closure lid 7 into an. open position we provide a foot lever 23 pivotally attached as at 24 to the rear wall 4 and connected at its inner end to the bottom end of a link 25 whose top end is connected to the bottom end of an actuating rod 26. The top end of the actuating rod is pivotally connected as at 27 to a bracket 28 secured to the underside of the closure lid 7.

To render the interior of the receptacle airtight we bond (see Figure 5) a rubber moulding 30 to the top rim 31 of the receptacle as well as about the edges of the discharge opening 10. The moulding is channeled or grooved as at 32 to wedgingly receive a correspondingly shaped strip of rubber moulding 33 when the lid 7 or closure 11 is in a closed position.

For convenience in maneuvering the cart we provide it with caster wheels 34 and a handle 35. The handle is attached as at 36 at both of its ends to a pair of arms 37 secured to and extending rearwardly from the side walls 5 and 6 of the receptacle. A shelf 38 is secured in any approved manner to the arms 37 for convenience in transporting small items or containers used in hospital maintenance. The space between the bottom wall 2 and par-.

ing front, rear, side and bottom walls, a resilient molding secured to the top edges of said front, rear, and one of said side walls, said molding having an upwardly opening groove therein, a lid hingedly attached to the top of the other of said side walls for closing the receptacle, a resilient molding secured to the underside of the marginal portions of the lid and adapted to seat within said groove in the first mentioned molding, said front wall having an opening in its bottom end defined by top, bottom and side edges, resilient molding secured to the side and bottom edges of said opening and having an outwardly opening groove therein, a closure for said opening hingedly attached to said front wall across the top edge of said opening by a spring hinge normally urging the closure toward an open position, resilient molding secured to the rear face of the closure and adapted to seat within the groove in the molding about said opening, a foot lever pivotally attached to said rear wall and interconnected with said lid and thereby adapted to open the same, a forwardly and downwardly inclined false bottom secured within the receptacle above said bottom wall, terminating at its bottom end adjacent the bottom edge of said opening, a second foot lever pivotally attached to said bottom wall, a latch pivotally attached to the bottom wall connectedto said second foot lever and operable thereby out of engagement with said closure whereby upon release of the closure by the latch the contents of the receptacle reposing on said false bottom will be released to gravitate out through said opening, and whereby the interior of the receptacle will be airtight when said lid and closure are in closed positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,671,832 Lyon May 29, 1928 2,602,584 Craft July 8, 1952 2,644,737 Davis July 7, 1953 1 

